Books in the British Archaeological Reports British Series series

The intention of the present study is to determine two key elements: to ascertain the extent of Romanisation in the region of Gloucestershire (south-west England), and to examine the dominating profile of the native élites within this acculturation process. Both the villas and the Romano-Celtic temples provide insight into these elements, but in different sociological spheres. However, if a connection between the two types of structures can be drawn then the possibility for understanding the romanitas of such constructions is improved exponentially. In many ways, both the villas and Romano-Celtic temples epitomise the social dominance of the local aristocracy and their social expression of affiliation with the provincial administration. There are several aspects to be discussed throughout this investigation, but the central focus has been upon the native aristocracy and their response to Rome. This has revealed that the Romanised buildings erected by the native nobility have created an appearance of Romanisation, with little significance for the nature of society in Britain as a whole. To support this hypothesis, it is also helpful to consider the elements of this apparent Romanisation, namely the archaeological evidence for rural Romano-Celtic temples and Romanised villas in Britain. Some examination of the urban centres has been undertaken, but the reason for this is to gain a clear picture of all the social conditions during the occupation. Temples of the Romano-Celtic style were one of the features of the landscape in Britain during the Roman occupation, but it has been argued in this study that the continuation of these temples has produced a false representation of the religion and the Romanisation of the period. This is an attempt, therefore, to determine the extent of the social and religious impact of Rome on the native population, and on those who accepted Roman beliefs.

The established view of burials in Wales during the Roman period has been that, with a few exceptions, they would conform to Roman types. Dr. Pollock's detailed examination of the available evidence shows that on the contrary native burial types and influences can be found during the Roman period, even in heavily 'Romanized' areas.

This research provides a comprehensive study of the social and psychological characteristics of modern consumer behaviour that is then used as an interpretative perspective with which to consider the evidence for a selection of villas in Roman Britain. Existing explanations for investment in the country properties of the elite are contextualised and the commonly-applied hypothesis of conspicuous consumption is critiqued. A quantifiable 'costing' model is introduced and consumer theories are summarised against a background of Roman archaeology. The consumer approach allows for a closer look at the decision-making of individuals and the determinants that can influence personal choice. Case-studies are offered that rigorously examine a range of apparently status-enhancing amenities on villas within a framework that focuses on specific consumption arguments. This process serves to question existing orthodoxies. Important and under-appreciated contexts in which social identity could be expressed were the Roman roads that passed close to villas, and this suggestion is explored.

Gifford Archaeological Monographs Number OneThe detailed report of excavations undertaken at Oversley Farm (on the edge of Styal, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England) in advance of the construction of Manchester Airport's second runway in 1997-8.Written by D. J. Garner, with major contributions by C. S. M. Allen and F. F. Wenban-Smith and other contributions by R. E. Bevins, S. N. Dudd, R. P. Evershed, P. I. Maclean, J. G. McDonnell, D. W. Shimwell, I. R. Smith and D. Williams

Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) Monograph Series No. 4Sometime in the late 16th century an armed merchantman foundered in the Thames Estuary. Forgotten for over four centuries, it was rediscovered in 2003 during an operation by the Port of London Authority to clear a navigational hazard from the Princes Channel. Wessex Archaeology, called in by the PLA, recovered five sections of the ship's hull and four cannons, as well as numerous artefacts. With only a few sites studied in detail, our knowledge of 16th century shipbuilding in England is still limited. The well-preserved wreck of the Gresham Ship - so named after the founder of one of the cannons - presents an excellent opportunity to study the construction of a merchant vessel from this period. In addition, the wreck is currently the only archaeological example of a remedial procedure for unstable ships, otherwise known only from documentary sources. This procedure, called 'furring', increases the breadth of the hull by removing the planking, adding timbers to the existing frames and re-planking. This volume, the first of two on the Gresham Ship, gives a detailed account of the sections of the wreck recovered and describes the work of researchers at the University of Southern Denmark in their analysis of the hull and of the armament. Volume II will deal with the studies undertaken at the University College London of the ship's context and contents. This volume is the fourth of a series of NAS monographs. Others previously published are The Sound of Mull Archaeological Project, Records of Traditional Watercraft from South and West Sri Lanka and The Hulks of Forton Lake, Gosport.With contributions by Massimiliano Ditta, Antony Firth, Nigel Nayling, Delia Ní Chíobháin, Christian Thomsen and Cate Wagstaffe

This research aims to investigate later Iron Age society in Norfolk through a study of largely unstratified metal artefacts. In particular, it examines and interprets patterns in the distribution and deposition of torcs, coins and items of horse equipment across the landscape of Norfolk. Any research on later Iron Age Norfolk cannot, of course, take place without reference to Snettisham, the Iceni and Queen Boudica. This work does not neglect these important aspects of Norfolk's past, but sets them in their broader historical context and goes on to investigate whether this region was culturally 'backward' or peripheral to southern and south-eastern England. To achieve these aims, this research focuses on examining patterns in the distribution and deposition of torcs, coins and items of horse equipment across and within the landscape of Norfolk. Northern East Anglia does not boast a well-known and documented settlement record; a problem that has enhanced the perception that this region was culturally peripheral to southern and south-east England in the later Iron Age. Despite the lack of detailed information regarding settlement archaeology, Norfolk does appear to be rich in later Iron Age metalwork. The majority of metal artefacts known from the region have been recovered by metal-detectorists or by chance discovery. In particular, three categories of metalwork are the focus of this study: torcs, coins and items of horse equipment. 162 finds are detailed in the catalogue, each with a drawing.

In this work the author provides a comprehensive survey of bronze-working practices during the Late Bronze Age in Ireland through six key areas of research: (1) A thorough examination of all relevant categories of artifactual evidence (with the exception of the finished metalwork itself) and the compilation of a detailed catalogue of this evidence; (2) The identification of gaps in the archaeological record in terms of necessary tools and metalworking facilities that are apparently absent; (3) An evaluation of the structural and other site evidence of bronze metallurgy on Irish sites of this period (with particular reference to evidence from excavations); (4)The placement of bronze-working during this period in a wider context, demonstrating the broad technical similarities in equipment and methods in the insular Late Bronze Age as a whole, while stressing distinctly Irish and regional traits where they occur; (5) Undertaking a special in-depth examination of Late Bronze Age sword production in Ireland. (Also examined here is the suitability of elements of the Late Bronze Age archaeological assemblage as metalworking tools and the utility of the experimental approach in archaeology is also studied); (6) A consideration of the position of Late Bronze Age bronze-working in contemporary society, with reference to the supply of raw materials, trade, smith mobility and status, site status and ritual.

The book explores what has happened to the Hadrian Wall in the post-Roman period; it examines the various types of buildings and structures that have re-used the Wall stone in their fabric, place-name evidence, ancient maps, estate deeds and plans, antiquarian writers and travelers as well as modern archaeological research.

The wish of the editors was to bring together a number of individuals who had worked on evidence for the late Roman transition in north Britain in order to compare results, and to attempt to identify common ground, differences, and potential approaches for future research. In order to cover a range of views on the subject, the speakers included excavators (Ferris, Jones, Wilmott and Wilson), specialists in the areas of finds, ceramics, and environmental studies (Cool, Evans, Huntley and Stallibrass), and academics with a specialist interest in the late Roman transition (Dark and Esmonde-Cleary). The area studied is bisected by a national boundary, on each side of which archaeological agendas with different emphases are pursued, and the subject has been seen either as the end of the concern of the Romanist or the beginning of the concern of the medievalist. It is only in relatively recent years that the transition has been recognised widely as a separate study in its own right for which it is necessary to deploy evidence from a great variety of specialisms. As the papers presented here largely represent summaries of work in progress or overviews of work to date they are intended to provoke debate and hopefully act as a springboard for new work, both by the authors and others. Contents include: Transforming an Elite: Reinterpreting Late Roman Binchester by Iain Ferris and Rick Jones; The late Roman transition at Birdoswald and on Hadrian's Wall by Tony Wilmott; Cataractonium (Catterick): The end of a Roman town? by Pete Wilson; Coin Supply in the North in the late Roman period by R J Brickstock; The End of Roman Pottery in the North by Jeremy Evans; The parts left over: material culture into the fifth century by H E M Cool; Late Roman Transition in the North: the Palynological Evidence by Jacqueline P Huntley; How little we know, and how much there is to learn: what can animal and human bones tell us about the late Roman transition in northern England? by Sue Stallibrass; The Late Roman Transition in the North: a discussion Ken Dark; Summing Up by Simon Esmonde Cleary.

This work examines small mammal faunas from cave sites in southwest England and Wales. Its three main objectives are to investigate the rapid environmental changes taking place in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene periods; to understand the processes by which small mammal remains were deposited in the cave sites examined; and to demonstrate the value of small mammals studies as an archaeological tool. All identifiable mammal remains from 12 selected sites are listed. 10 of the locations are new material. An examination of possible agents of accumulation is provided for each site to identify any bias introduced by prey selection. Reconstructions of the environments local to each cave at the time of deposition are offered. The evidence provided by the small mammals is related to the archaeological findings from each cave, to demonstrate the effect of human habitation of cave sites on the depositional and post-depositional processes shown by the microfauna. The environmental evidence provided by the study reflects a wider landscape rather than merely the immediate surroundings of the cave, and so gives a basis for human exploitation patterns in the area accessible from the cave. Reconstructions of the ecological mosaics formed by the rapidly changing climate of the period and the topographic variation around the cave sites are provided, demonstrating the potential complexity of the environment in which the humans and other fauna of the period existed. This is intended to encourage archaeologists to look beyond the general division of environmental boundaries in this period, and to examine the local variation in habitat availability and use.

Scottish crannogs are situated in wetland lacustrine or marine environments. While the so called "lake dwellings" situated in freshwater environments have been the focus of considerable, and growing, attention, those sites located in marine environments, especially Scottish firths, remain the poor relation and, as yet, have not been the subject of detailed analysis. In some ways this is surprising given the potential importance of firths as prehistoric transport routes. Such sites along firths may have acted as nodal points in postulated networks of coastal transport, exchange and trade. The paucity of research may in part therefore be explained by the relative rarity of marine crannogs and the apparent difficulties of researching on sites in the intertidal zone. This book sets out to examine the archaeological potential and palaeoenvironmental significance of the remains of marine crannogs in Scotland. Three key areas of marine crannog research were identified from the framework of this volume. The first was to record main site distribution, location and environmental change. The second objective was to assess the position of marine crannogs within the contemporary landscape and to evaluate how they relate to other sites in their regions. This has the result of integrating these sites into the archaeological landscape so that evidence of their function, from structural and artefactual evidence, may contribute to the reconstruction of past societies. The third broad aim of this work was to ascertain whether reliable dating evidence might be acquired from marine crannogs. Evidence is produced that is used to place the sites into their contemporary landscapes and the chronological framework of past societies.

This book focuses on the historic use of lime as a soil additive, and sets liming in the context of agricultural land improvement alongside draining, paring, marling and the use of other soil conditioners. It is concerned with the Central Pennines, centred on the Yorkshire Dales National Park (N England), and adjacent lowlands. Previous work has tended to concentrate on kilns as industrial monuments or on archaeological investigations of lime burning and quarrying sites. No other detailed regional study of the history of agricultural liming has been identified in the literature. The book examines the time frame during which liming is known to have been practised, and investigates whether or not widespread liming was largely a phenomenon of the era of parliamentary enclosure; it looks into the spatial extent within which land was limed, whether dominantly moorlands and upland wastes or lowlands as well; and investigates the possibility that liming was not just undertaken where limestone bedrock occurs but also more widely; and considers the possibility that the benefits of liming may have been appreciated at all levels of the farming hierarchy rather than just by landowners and their stewards and agents. An empirical, evidence-based approach was adopted with data having been obtained by both field- and deskbased methods. Archaeological excavation was employed, alongside the field surveying techniques of landscape archaeology, to identify the spatial distribution of liming and to isolate examples of late medieval or early modern lime burning. Extensive archival research concentrated on estate, manorial and farm records and on contemporary written sources.

This research takes the form of a regional study of those parts of North West England, which comprise the area known as Lancastria (Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, together with the Unitary Authorities for Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Holton and Warrington, and also southern Cumbria and the western extremities of West Yorkshire) in the later Prehistoric Period circa 2800-500 cal. BC. The study investigates why the scientific construction of knowledge about the prehistoric inhabitants of Lancastria has focused so much on individual artefacts and single sites removed from their landscape context. It asks why the knowledge and understanding assembled by archaeologists has had so little to do with studies of change over the longterm. It examines some of the circumstances that shaped these approaches over the past 400 years tracing the parting of the ways between scientific and popular knowledge of the past. Specific research objectives of the study are to recontextualise the interrelationships between objects, monuments and landscape to facilitate a diachronic study of change in later prehistoric Lancastria; to explore the influence of local and regional contexts on strategies of exploitation, interaction, connectivity and interdependence amongst the prehistoric inhabitants of the region; to explore the changing role of technology and material culture in ordering and representing changing social identity; and to develop a model for the social reproduction of small-scale society through time within the region.

Birmingham Archaeology Monograph Series 13Written by Richard Cuttler, Sam Hepburn, Chris Hewitson and Kristina KrawiecThe site of Delamere Street lies just outside the North gate of the Roman and medieval Chester (n/w England) and in recent years has been subject to intensive investigation as part of the Gorse Stacks development. This publication represents the culmination of those investigations carried out by Birmingham Archaeology during 2006 and 2008.

Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit Monograph Series 3A summary of rescue excavations at the Romano-British Shrine site at Rocester, Staffordshire, dating from the late first to mid-second centuries AD. Parts of two enclosures identified as being associated with the adjacent Roman fort complex were also dug, and pits revealed several unusual finds, including an altar fragment. A small, stone building in one of the enclosures has been identified as a shrine.With contributions by A.S. Esmonde Cleary, A. Hammon, K. Hartley, C. Hewitson, T. Joyce, D.F. Mackreth, A. Monckton, R.S.O. Tomlin, D. Williams and S. Willis.Illustrations by M. Breedon and N. Dodds

Excavation and Survey in the Parish of Ridge, Hertfordshire, undertaken by Archaeological Services and Consultancy LtdThis volume is a result of a combination of a series of separate fieldwork projects undertaken in the late 1990s and early 2000s brought about by gravel extraction works. All four projects are linked by their location within a narrow 'strip parish' called Ridge that stretches from the river Colne in the north to Arkley in the south (now in Greater London) a distance of 10.1 km (6.3 miles). Three of the four projects (all with prehistoric to modern era finds) were located in the north of the parish while the fourth was located in the south of the parish towards Arkley. Of the four projects, one was classified as an 'enhanced watching brief' (Part 1), one was an 'evaluation/mitigation' (Part 2), one was a formal excavation (Part 3) and one was a landscape assessment of a small estate held by Hertfordshire County Council (Part 4). Each of these disparate projects is of interest in their own right. However, by combining them in this volume it is hoped that their value will be enhanced and that they will contribute towards a better understanding of the evolution of the local landscape.With contributions by Chris Turner, James Rackham, John Giorgi, Martin Lightfoot, Pippa Bradley, Lucy Whittingham, Nicholas Doggett and Andy Richmond

Although amphorology is now a thriving subject the epigraphy of their inscriptions has been neglected. Funari provides an introductory discussion of epigraphy, a catalogue of stamps found in England with an economic analysis and chronological study.

This work examines the minster churches of Dorset in relation to their immediate and intermediate environs within the context of the recent Saxon minster debate. It begins with the identification of 'high-status' churches, and goes on to compare the parochiae of minsters with the units of royal demesne. The various layouts of minster settlements are then explored, and the volume concludes with a study of the implications of the Dorset minster system over the Saxon period.

This monograph set out to reveal what an essentially geological analysis could tell about the churches and Nonconformist chapels that appeared so abundantly in the county of Berkshire, England, between the late eighteenth century and the First World War. In an attempt to understand the geological evidence, however, the work inevitably strays into other fields.

In the Middle Ages, Great Yarmouth was a town of considerable economic and strategic significance; in 1334, it ranked fourth in English provincial towns in its wealth. This work examines in detail the construction and, more especially, material composition of the Great Yarmouth town walls.

The three Iron Age and Romano-British sites presented in this volume demonstrate the implementation of the structured approach to developer-funded contracts promoted by PPG16. Investigation proceeded from desk top study with air-photo analysis, geophysical examination and fieldwalking, to intrusive evaluation and, finally, excavation. These processes are now commonplace, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the sites under discussion in this book were being investigated, they were new and even controversial. Many regarded this new 'business-based' approach to funding and negotiation (under PPG16 rules) with some distaste and even hostility. Nevertheless, they soon came to adopt at least some of the new practices and began to undertake developer-funded contracts. The volume reviews the story behind this development.With contributions by Paul Booth, Robert Bourn, M. Charles, Phil Collins, Barbara Davies, John Davies, Daryl Garton, J. F. Hamshaw-Thomas, Jonathan R. Hunn, David Jordan, Alison Locker, Rajka Makjanic, Graeham Mounteney, James Rackham, Jane Sandoe, James Symonds, P. Wagner and Angela Wardle

A wide-ranging study covering the significance of the Lower Palaeolithic lithic tool traditions usually referred to as Early, Middle and Late Acheulian and Clactonian. The work (concentrating on selected sites from the Upper and Middle Thames Valley) includes sections devoted to the interpretation of significant patterns of artefact manufacture and use and the question of the procurement and economic use of lithic raw material. Special emphasis is given to lithic styles and technology, recurrent morphological patterns within stone tool assemblages, and the effect of the varying distances between occupation sites and the lithic raw material sources.

This book interprets the exploitation of marine resources and the organisation of their uses during later prehistory in the Western Isles of Scotland. Particular attention is focused on the analysis of the fish, molluscan and cetacean remains recovered during the excavation of a settlement at Bostadh Beach in Great Bernera, Lewis. A key objective is the reconstruction of regional fishing practices particularly during the Iron Age and Norse periods. Five aspects of research are considered: fish biology, modern fisheries, ancient fisheries, taphonomy and ethnography. The role of fishing during the Iron Age and Norse periods around the Hebridean Islands is assessed, in terms of economic, social and technological factors. Fish biology and taphonomy provided the necessary association between modern and ancient fishing traditions. Taphonomy and ethnographical studies also linked past and present and allowed a more solidly based reconstruction of the islands' fishing industry through time. The combination of archaeological faunal analysis and ethnoarchaeological approaches provides data for understanding the character of fishing practices in the later prehistory of Great Bernera and other nearby Hebridean Isles.

The effect of ploughing on stratigraphy and on artefacts spread over the surface is explored in this much-needed book. Agricultural engineering literature and the analysis of three experimental datasets have been used to produce a computer simulation of the effect of ploughing on the distribution of portable objects (not on architectural remains). How much of the original patterning on archaeological sites has been destroyed, and how much survives? Can tillage-induced changes in surface patterns be 'cancelled out' by identifying their effects? This closely argued book suggests answers.

The subject of this work is the archaeology of exploitation of woodland on and around Exmoor, in south-west England. It fits into the existing body of research at three levels. Firstly, it attempts to analyse patterns of woodland management over a large area. In this respect, it forms part of a modern trend, with many writers on woodland now recognising the need to move away from histories of individual woods and adopt a wider perspective. Secondly, the area studied in this research is an upland and its fringes, with a dispersed settlement pattern, which is an environment of a type still under-represented in work on landscape development. In particular, work on woodland has, until recent years, tended to focus on the southern, eastern and central lowlands of England, which may have more centralised patterns of settlement. Thirdly, the geographical area selected for study, Exmoor and its fringes, saw relatively little sustained scholarly work until the 1990s, in comparison to other uplands of the south-west, and knowledge of its past land use has consequently been extremely limited. Perceptions of its woodland have been conditioned by the need to collect data for management purposes, generating a series of surveys and assessments carried out from the mid-1990s.The results of these surveys, which recorded a high level of archaeological features relating to woodland management, indicate that further progress can now be made by analysing and interpreting the data. The period covered by this research runs from the date of Domesday Book (1086) to the early 19th century.

Aves Ditch is one of the best-preserved and yet most enigmatic of the ancient monuments in Oxfordshire, and it has remained a landmark to the present day. Lined by a straight row of trees, it can be seen over a fair distance. It runs virtually dead straight over no less than 4.2 km from north of Kirtlington to the modern parish boundary between Upper Heyford and Middleton Stoney. For over three centuries scholars have wondered whether it is of pre-Roman, Roman or Anglo-Saxon origin, whether it was a road or a linear earthwork and, in the latter case, what function it may have served. Notwithstanding this centuries-old debate and it being easily accessible just 15 to 22 km north of Oxford, it is also one of the least known of the county's visible archaeological features and is seldom referred to in popular or scholarly work on the history or archaeology of the region. Previously unpublished excavations of the 1930s and further work in the 1990s have contributed much to solving this enigma, and the present book provides the final report on these excavations.With contributions by Paul Booth, Patrick Erwin, Peter Hacking, Birgitta Hoffmann, Stephanie Knight and Mark Robinson.

The Roman Gask project was founded in 1995 in the University of Manchester. It has since been engaged in an extensive campaign of surveys, excavation and archive work. Its remit was to cover all of Roman Scotland north of the Antonine Wall but, as its name suggests, its principal focus has been on the system of military works on and around the Gask Ridge in Perthshire (from the Glenbank fortlet, north of Dunblane, to the fort of Bertha on the Tay). This volume is an interim report describing the progress made during its first five years. It is in two sections; the first provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on the Gask, while the second section reports on a series of field work programmes (two rescued from archives dating from the 1960s and 1970s. The project has undertaken nineteen excavations, numerous surveys, museum/archive work, air-photography assignments, and field-walking tasks: a significant achievement over a short period of time.With contributions from A.T. Croom, M.H. Davies, A.C. Finnegan, M.A. Hall, K.F. Hartley, B. Hoffmann, A.J. Hughes, N.J. Lockett and S. Ramsay.

Written by Peter Ellis, Gary Coates, Richard Cuttler and Catharine MouldA report on four pieces of fieldwork undertaken in Cambridgeshire (Pode Hole Farm, Paston, Longstanton, Bassingbourn) in 1996 and 1997. Pode Hole Farm provided Bronze Age to Romano-British material; Paston Romano-British; Longstanton Late Saxon and Medieval; and Bassingbourn Saxon and Medieval. Each has a similar format and layout, starting with a review of the processes leading up to the fieldwork and an outline of the methods used followed by acknowlegements. In the case of three of the excavations, an historical and documentary section follows which summarizes the known data before excavation began and provides a necessary historical background. In a general concluding discussion some points are considered from the excavations and the results are set within their county context.

The study of 18th century gardens in Norfolk from an archaeological point of view. Attention is focused on different kinds of designed landscape in time and space, on ways in which these landscapes were created and on the ways in which they related to the 'vernacular' landscape upon which they were imposed. The task was to supply information about distributions and chronology which is generally lacking in studies of eighteenth-century landscapes.

This book presents the results of excavation and analysis of technological remains from the Devon village of Hemyock, on the north-west side of the Blackdown Hills. The first major subject covered is an examination of early medieval iron technology including the largest group of C14-dated furnaces of the late 9th to early 10th centuries in Britain, which has afforded a re-examination and modelling of all other dated examples in the UK, and a review of technological change in iron production. The second major element to this volume is the study of a later major pottery production centre, dated c. 1500-1550, using a combination of microscopic and macroscopic petrology, ICP-MS and QEMSCAN in novel analysis of over 50,000 sherds. The final chapter considers evidence for the contemporary landscape context of and historical framework behind these industries, the relationship with extraction sites, and the wider environmental impacts that they had.